


First Friend

by Buttercup (Buttercup_1)



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Cassandra Appreciation Week (Disney: Tangled), Day 1: Friendship, Gen, LITTLE CASS, owl - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 16:55:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24210196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buttercup_1/pseuds/Buttercup
Summary: Cap wants Cass to make friends, but it turns out she isn't very good at it... at least with people.
Relationships: Captain of Corona's Guard & Cassandra (Disney), Cassandra & Owl (Disney: Tangled)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 41





	First Friend

**Author's Note:**

> A few minutes late, but for day 1 of Cassandra Appreciation Week!!

“Cassandra!” The five year old flinched away at the anger behind her father’s voice and tripped over herself as she whirled around to face him. “Come on, kid, get up!” Cassandra scrambled to her feet and avoided eye contact. She cradled her bruised and bloody knuckles in an attempt to hide the evidence of a fight from her father. 

“Daddy, I-” The man cut her off with an angry, sweeping gesture of his hand. Though he hadn’t hit her like her mother had, she still found herself flinching as his hand flew past her face. He didn’t seem to notice.

“I don’t want to hear it, Cassandra! I taught you how to fight so you could defend yourself, not so you can throw a punch at the kids you’re supposed to be making friends with!” Her eyes watered, but she pushed the tears back, reaching out to him desperately.

“Daddy he was-” Her stomach knotted when he pulled away from her touch.

“Did he hit you first?” She took a step towards him, but he didn’t make a move to reach out to her. 

“No, but-” His hand flew up to his face to pinch the bridge of his nose. The simple action made her heart drop. Her mother had done the same thing just before she said-

“Go to your room. I don’t want to see you again tonight and since you’re tough enough to go out and pick fights, you won’t be needing a bedtime story.” Cassandra fought back tears as he turned away from her to walk back to his post.

“But he called you a mean name…” If her father had heard her at all, he didn’t acknowledge it and continued to his post. It was then that she lost her battle and salty tears fell down her cheeks. Cassandra turned on her heel and ran as fast as she could, not to her room, but to the woods. She ran until her legs gave out on her and once they did she let herself cry into the dirt. 

When Cassandra found the strength to sit up, a whole new round of tears started but for an entirely different reason. As she looked around at her surroundings, she realized she was not at all familiar with the area. The child pushed herself to her tired, wobbly legs and collapsed after only a few steps with a choked sob. The exhaustion from her fight, the argument with her father, her run into the woods, and her crying started to take its toll on her and Cassandra crawled into the hollow under a tree to fall asleep.

* * *

Upon awakening with a headache one could only get from crying, Cassandra also felt the weight of something resting on her side. She blinked the fog from her eyes and sat up with a scream at the sight of a fluffy gray creature, flinging it across the hollow. Cassandra prepared for it to get back up and attack her, but her glare softened when she recognized it as a baby bird with a crooked wing.

“O-Oh… Hey, I’m sorry. What happened?” The bird got to its feet and Cassandra’s eyes widened as it walked out on legs longer than any bird she had seen. “Wow…” She followed it with a small smile, her previous despair forgotten. It led her outside of the tree and hooted towards the top of the tree.

“You sound like an owl. Can I call you Owl?” The baby bird hooted and hopped at the base of the tree.

“Do you want to get up there, Owl?” He responded enthusiastically and tried to fly back up but fell back to the ground when his injured wing didn’t move. Cassandra frowned, but smiled as an idea came to her. 

“Maybe I can bring you back up there!” She held out a small hand and Owl stared at it cautiously before climbing up to her shoulder. Cassandra giggled ath the feeling of his feet on her arm, but kept her word and started slowly climbing the tree. It took her a while, but she eventually reached another hollow higher in the tree. With one last smile to the baby bird, Cassandra held her arm out to let Owl climb back into his nest. 

Once he was safely in the hollow, the small girl pulled her arm back, but was surprised when she was met with a full grown screech owl. With a scream worthy of the bird in front of her, she threw her arms up to protect her face, letting go of the branch in the process. As Cassandra fell towards the ground, her scream only grew louder, only quieting when she landed. She whimpered in pain as she felt something in her arm crack and her head hit the dirt. The last thing she felt before passing out was something small landing on top of her.

* * *

Cassandra’s eyes fluttered open and she was immediately met with her father’s concerned eyes. Her gaze then drifted to her throbbing arm that she noted was wrapped in stiff white bandages. She then looked to her other side and smiled when she saw Owl on a pillow next to her, a matching cast on his wing. 

“Cassandra, You okay?” She nodded and accepted the tight hug that he pulled her into.

“I’m okay daddy, thanks for helping Owl too.” He smiled a little. 

“You two look like quite the matching pair right now. Two little ones, two broken arms… Well, I’ll let you get some more sleep, kid.” He ruffled her hair before leaving and blowing out the candle. Once the door closed, she turned to the bird. 

“Owl?” She smiled brightly when he hooted in acknowledgement.

“You’ll be my friend, right? Forever?” He hooted quietly and moved closer to her so that their casts were touching. Her smile widened and she laid her head back on her pillow. 

“Best friends forever.”


End file.
